Sputnik: An Extensible Wiki Engine in Lua

While learning Lua for WoW addons, I was lucky enough to discover a neat pure lua app called Sputnik. It is a wiki engine that can be extended to do just about anything you want it to do. For example, I have all of the data storing in git with a git plugin and changed the default auth to hit MySQL instead of a flat file. The possibilities are endless and they have several example plugins for ideas (issue tracker, discussion posts. etc).

I hope one day to get good enough with Sputnik and lua to provide a Postgres auth plugin and a blog plugin as well. Yuri, the project maintainer is really good at answering people that need assistance on their mailing list. It was there that I discovered they have a git repo and a new version: Galaxy.

The bottom line: this project is worth checking out and contributing to people so get to it!

Converting FLAC to MP3 in Linux

Converting FLAC files to MP3 is very easy to accomplish in Linux. Unfortunately, FLAC files can not be played on most mobile devices and they normally take up too much space anyway. Use the script I wrote below to easily convert a folder (recursively) to mp3 files. It defaults to 320 kbps bit rate if you do not specify. This script was tested in Ubuntu 10.04 with: flac 1.2.1 and lame 3.98.2. Nothing else is required.

Usage

flac2mp3 /path/to/flac/files/ /path/to/output/mp3/files/ [bit_rate]

The Script

#!/bin/bash
convert_dir=$1
output_dir=$2
bitrate=$3

# Ensure require params are passed in
if [ -z $convert_dir ] || [ -z $output_dir ];
then
  echo "Usage: flac2mp3 rip_dir output_dir [bitrate]"
  exit
fi

# Default to 320 kbps if bitrate not specified
if [ -z $bitrate ];
then
  bitrate=320
fi

# Get the list of files to convert
files=( `find $convert_dir -iname '*.flac' | tr "\n" " "` )

# Convert each file, one at a time
for file in ${files[*]}
do
  flac -dc $file | lame -b $bitrate - $output_dir/`basename $file`.mp3
done

echo "Conversions complete!"

Installation

cd /usr/bin
sudo curl --silent --output flac2mp3 https://gist.github.com/raw/708704/10b41ddb2ab43ade403038cfb78364eb5e168286/flac2mp3
sudo chmod 755 flac2mp3

Warcraft Milestone: Crusader Technology

After several rough months my Paladin finally earned Crusader title and the Argent Charger! A lot of people probably think this is old news and lame but for me it is a milestone. It is the first time I have pushed through and actually did it. I HATE the Argent dailies with a passion This was my last major goal before the release of Cataclysm. Now to decide which character I want to take into the expansion. It’s a pretty rough decision when you have ten 80′s (soon to be eleven). Click the images for the full size!

Do It Yourself Chai Tea (NMRC’s Hacker Chai)

Here I offer my interpretation of weasel’s recipe of home made chai tea. This tea has special powers. You can commit any cyber crime you wish and blame it on the tea. The authorities will understand.

NMRC’s Hacker Chai
Brew time: about 20-30 minutes

Double Batch
3 Cups Water
1 1/3 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Sugar
16 Cardamom Pods
16 Cloves
2 Sticks (about 4-5 inches long) Cinnamon
1/3 cup loose leaf darjeeling tea

Single Batch
1 1/2 Cups Water
2/3 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Sugar
8 Cardamom Pods
8 Cloves
1 Stick (about 4-5 inches long) Cinnamon
3 Tbsp loose leaf darjeeling tea

Procedure
1. Crack the cardamom pods while being careful to not lose the seeds.
2. Combine the water, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
3. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. It is very important to not boil the spices.
4. Add the sugar and milk to the mixture and bring back to a simmer. Stir just enough to disolve sugar.
5. Turn off heat, but leave on burner.
6. Add tea and cover. Let stand for 4 minutes.
7. Slowly strain brew into two mugs and drink HOT.
8. “Commit any crime you wish, and blame it on the chai. Just leave me the fuck out of it.”

Weasel has some interesting variations of this recipe. If you are curious, feel free to take a look at the original recipe.

Music Spotlight: Boom Bach Music

This is one of my colleagues at work. He combines anything from trancey synths, guitar riffs, and big bass lines to make what he calls ‘Gangsta Jazz’ Check out all of his work on his SoundCloud page. It is definitely work a look!

DevELOpe
DevELOpe by BoomBachMusic

Oh no, Tokyo
Oh no, Tokyo by BoomBachMusic